The two-day event was organised by the Pakistan Scrabble Association (PSA) and sponsored by The Express Tribune at the Expo Centre. A total of 460 people participated in the tournament. There were six categories for students ranging from junior sections to university levels.
Karachi Grammar School’s Javeria Arshad Mirza, 15, came in first in the ‘open’ category by winning from the people who had taught her how to play. “It feels great to beat my teachers,” she said as she showed off her award. During the fifth and last round, many confident young people were playing matches against their experienced counterparts. Nine-year-old Mirza Taha, sat in front of Jawed Shamim, a senior player twice his age and size, putting together big words on the board. “This child is good,” said Shamim. “He has made some mistakes and that is why he is losing.”
Senior player Syed Hasan Ali, who had played with Taha before Shamim, said that the boy was smart and knew words he didn’t.
Although Taha was unable to defeat the older players, 11-year-old Chris Judd was successful. After playing scrabble for only five months, he defeated two of the most experienced players. Scrabble player Sohail Qasim Zaidi who has been playing since 1992, lost to Judd by five points. He shook his head and said that this would be the only time he would lose to a child. “His word formations were fantastic,” he said. “These children are unique. They have a thirst to win, and a will to grasp everything.”
The president of the PSA said that the game was not about vocabulary, it was about strategy. Tariq Pervez of the PSA said that the event was being well received, especially since children were winning over experienced players.
According to the Sindh information minister Shazia Marri, scrabble was like mental math as it helped enhance the English language. She added that it was a good indoor sport which should be promoted. While talking about the event, she said that she was excited to be there and to learn that to date over 150 million scrabble sets had been sold in 120 countries since 1930. The jury which was going to every table to check up on the participants of the 50-minute game said that they had even gone abroad to participate in similar events.
Taha Amjad, who had participated in World Youth Scrabble Championship last December, won 47 out of 60 69 games. “I have noticed that the college and school students are doing much better than universirty ones,” he said. “They are thinking a lot, and using technique which is more important than words.”
Published in The Express Tribune, February 27th, 2012.
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